Effect of Drought on Various Agro-physical Parameters of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genotypes in a Field Experiment

Drought stress is one of the major factors limiting the growth and development of legumes. In order to improve water deficit tolerance of this crop, several techniques have been put into practice such as seed priming or the selection of tolerant genotypes to water stress. In 2020, field experiment was conducted to assess the drought tolerance of thirty-six chickpea genotypes (C. arietinum) by analyzing the behaviour of certain physiological and biochemical parameters of plants harvested in a randomized field experiment. The genotypes analysed presented a diversity of behavior concerning the accumulation of mineral elements under drought. The results showed an accumulation of inorganic ions, especially calcium and potassium (1.8 and 2 mg.g-1, respectively) and increased proline and protein content (3.4 and 1.7 mg.g-1, respectively) has been observed in drought tolerant chickpea genotypes. Also, the results obtained showed that the P contents in the aerial parts are generally higher for plants with a high biomass, such as the case of genotypes V36 and V32. This tends to prove the positive effect of P on plant growth. After analysis of the various parameters, the results obtained allowed us to classify the tolerant genotypes:, V36, V38 andV41, intermediates: V40 and V4 and sensitive: V17 and V28.